Because Miami

Podcast hosted by @BillyCorben and @LebatardShow. New episodes Friday. Got tips? Slide into DMs or email [email protected]

[Billy Corben @BillyCorben]

In an October 2024 video, Florida Republican Rep. Fabian Basabe promised to resign if the allegations of sexual harassment, battery and defamation were proven true...

Yesterday, a civil jury found him liable for sexually harassing, battering, and defaming his male former Florida House aide and intern, and ordered Basabe to pay them nearly half a million dollars in damages.

He is running for re-election in House District 106 which includes Miami Beach, Surfside, Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor, Indian Creek Village, Sunny Isles, North Bay Village, and parts of North Miami, Golden Beach, Aventura and City of Miami.

Will he resign?

[Billy Corben @BillyCorben]

#BREAKING: Miami Republican Rep. Fabian Basabe found liable by a Tallahassee civil jury for sexual harassment, battery and defamation of his former Florida House legislative aide and intern.

Total damages: $450,000

[Billy Corben @BillyCorben]

Shocking testimony in the civil trial of Miami Republican State Rep. Fabian Basabe who is being sued for s*xually harassing his former Florida House legislative intern and aide, and later defaming the staffer and his mother.

In a sworn proffer taken outside the jury’s presence yesterday to determine admissibility, a man identified only as “T.S.” accused Basabe of drugging and r*ping him in 2003.

The Miami Herald previously reported on T.S.’s allegations and Basabe called them “false” and “baseless.”

Judge J. Lee Marsh ordered the media not to reveal T.S.’s identity and ultimately determined “this evidence to be inadmissible…because it is marginally relevant and it goes to a tangential issue. I find the danger of confusion of the issues in this case to substantially outweigh the probative value of this evidence. The court, makes no findings as to whether this happened or did not happen as that is not appropriate for the court at this matter. The court takes the, allegations at face value for purposes of this motion only. But the court reaffirms its order denying the plaintiff the ability to call T.S. in this case,” which involves incidents that occurred 20 years later.

These videos contain excerpts from T.S.’s 20-minute proffer.

[Billy Corben @BillyCorben]

Stunning moment yesterday in the civil trial of Miami Republican State Rep. Fabian Basabe who is being sued for sexually harassing his former Florida House legislative intern and aide, and later defaming the staffer and his mother.

Basabe sat SILENT for TEN SECONDS on the stand in front of a shocked Leon County courtroom in Tallahassee, not answering a question from plaintiffs’ attorney Katherine Viker.

(SPOILER ALERT: Basabe HAS been accused of drugging and raping a man. That video is coming soon…)

Basabe, who is not an attorney and did not attend law school, is representing himself, and has “fumble[d]” his way through the “chaotic” first days of the trial, according to the Miami Herald, and has been repeatedly admonished for “violating court orders…at least five times” by Judge J. Lee Marsh.

Following a sidebar, Marsh sustained Basabe’s objection and he did not have to answer the question.

Basabe, 48, has an arrest record that includes DUI, public urination, civil theft, and robbery by sudden snatching of a woman’s cellphone caught on video that led to his apprehension by the US Marshals fugitive task force.

Basabe was disqualified from his first run for lying about his address, but successfully elected in 2022 and 2024. He is currently up for re-election.

He has denied all allegations.

[Eliott Rodriguez @ERodforCongress]

Today I urged the City of Miami Commission to reject the 287(g) agreement. Policies that separate families and discourage victims and witnesses from reporting crimes make our community less safe. We can support secure borders while treating people with dignity and humanity.

[Naomi Feinstein @naomifeinstein]

Nearly a year after Fort Lauderdale and Inter Miami reached an agreement to deliver the overdue Lockhart Community Park, the long-promised project remains on hold.
https://t.co/8PVTQC7Er4

[Because Miami @BecauseMiami]

RT @fox_sheldon: No arrests after this large brawl involving a child this morning at Port Miami, per @MiamiDade_SO. I’m told that this happ…

[Thomas Kennedy @tomaskenn]

A contractor that got more than $200 million from taxpayers to help run Alligator Alcatraz was a top donor to four Miami-Dade County Commissioners, including Oliver Gilbert, who is now running for Congress.
https://t.co/KAwrUxiefV

[Sheldon Fox-7 News @fox_sheldon]

#Video: World Cup fans visiting Miami Beach from California get chased by man with knife before cops arrive. Miami man arrested for aggravated assault w/deadly weapon. @wsvn #Exclusive story:

[Sheldon Fox-7 News @fox_sheldon]

Tense situation just happened in front of us, as we were shooting a separate story re: a recent crime on South Beach. Taken from the Chesterfield Hotel, this New Jersey man had a dispute w/hotel staff over the restroom, according to witnesses. @wsvn

[Elaine de Valle @newschica]

Ladra joined @BillyCorben on the @BecauseMiami podcast last week to talk about the @PortMiami fuel depot Epic Fail ... and how the developers who bought it knew what they were doing to make a $220 million profit https://t.co/UzqtA2HDk1 via @YouTube

[Sheldon Fox-7 News @fox_sheldon]

Policewoman resigns before being fired by Miami PD, for not getting out of her cruiser when watching a gang of young men beating a driver in the middle of Biscayne Blvd., 3/16/25. We now have the body cam. @wsvn #Exclusive story:

[Thomas Kennedy @tomaskenn]

Miami-Dade commissioner says anyone traveling to Miami for the World Cup with a valid visa has nothing to worry, while Miami airport makes headlines for interrogating an award winning FIFA referee from Somalia for 11 hours and turning him away despite having a valid travel visa.

[Sheldon Fox-7 News @fox_sheldon]

Arrested for murder, Quayshawn West, 41, is who police say shot and killed a man outside Sandbar in North Beach. Full wrap, surveillance video of incident and response: @wsvn #1stOn7

[Because Miami @BecauseMiami]

#BecauseMiami

[Billy Corben @BillyCorben]

Miami Commissioner Miguel Gabela and the Bayfront Park Management Trust board are in charge of a multi-million dollar public park AND THEY CAN'T DO BASIC MATH! #BecauseMiami

I questioned them about their recent vote to give their unqualified interim executive director and Gabela crony, Raul Miro, a 70 PERCENT RAISE, from $150,000 to $255,000 - plus a wildly generous benefits package that gives him over $350,000 in annual compensation from taxpayers.

Miro, who may (or may not) have a high school diploma, failed to meet the advertised minimum job requirements for the position and now makes over FIVE times Miami's median household income of $66,000.

Incredibly, Gabela ADMITS that Raul Miro only got the position he's unqualified for is because he's politically connected to him! It's so rare to see anyone confess to this kind of cronyism, it's almost refreshing.

And now Gabela and board member Carlos Martell wanna argue with me about my math, gaslighting that 70% is not really 70%!

[Because Miami @BecauseMiami]

https://t.co/Tw1fkpMS3X

[Because Miami @BecauseMiami]

#BREAKING: Ex Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine — just referred by House Oversight Committee for DOJ criminal probe into allegations he s*xually assaulted Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime assistant — is on the FIFA World Cup Miami Host Committee #BecauseMiami

https://t.co/8Yud4qTG7z